Manchester City’s shock loss at Wolves has shown that the champions are not invincible.

Manchester United’s shock loss to Galatasaray shows that they are still extremely ‘vincible’ – and manager Erik ten Hag’s position could soon become, dare it be said, untenable.

Two very different scenarios in the opposite halves of the city, only one of which can be resolved by a resounding win at the weekend.

Looking at their two fixtures, you would think United have more chance of whacking Brentford at home than City have of thrashing Arsenal away.

But one win – even a big one – would not be enough to silence United’s critics or secure Ten Hag’s position.

Victory over Arsenal at the Emirates, on the other hand, would be a statement win for Pep Guardiola’s men.

Following the convincing double over the runners-up last year, it would suggest City still have Arsenal’s number.

But United will need to do much more than sting the Bees at Old Trafford to lift the gloom.

Ten Hag is now among a clutch of contenders for the managerial Sack Race for which last-placed Sheffield United’s Paul Heckingbottom is the odds-on favourite.

And Heckingbottom is said to have the support of Blades’ owner Prince Abdullah despite the 8-0 drubbing by Newcastle.

With such a huge vacuum at the top at Old Trafford such backing is not likely to be given to Ten Hag who looked safe enough to be a 66-1 long shot when the campaign began.

It’s a stunning shift so early in the season but who is there to pull the trigger?

The hapless CEO Richard Arnold? The absentee Glazers?

The fans gave their verdict with boos ringing around Old Trafford for the second time in four days – the first being after the loss to Crystal Palace.

United now face a mountain to climb just to make it through the group phase of the Champions League.

Failure to do so would have serious financial consequences.

They lag nine points behind City in the EPL after just seven games, four of which they’ve lost, and two of their wins were fortunate.

They’re almost out of the title race already.

They appeared to be weathering the early season storm, but woeful defending, indiscipline and a lack of fight have seen the dark clouds return.

Tactics, team selection and in-game management are all in question now.

Ten Hag’s record in the transfer market is also under renewed scrutiny with exciting Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund the lone bright spark.

After losing to Brighton for the fourth league game in a row, last month Ten Hag made the mistake of saying: “They spend as well, you know.”

They do, but only a tiny fraction of United’s outlay – the biggest in the world over the past decade.

And in that game, with one or two of their bigger signings missing, the Seagulls’ starting XI cost just £18m. United’s cost £482m.

One of Ten Hag’s bigger buys was goalkeeper Andre Onana who has replaced David de Gea, whose Golden Glove awards easily outnumber any other trophies the club has won in the past decade.

He kept the most clean sheets in the EPL yet again last season but his reward was a shamefully disrespectful exit on a free transfer.

He was jettisoned because of his poor distribution, especially with his feet, and was replaced by the Cameroonian who appears to fancy himself as a bit of a playmaker.

But on the evidence so far, he’s not that good at his day job – preventing the ball from going into the net.

His season has already been littered by so many cock-ups – including some with his feet – that De Gea’s name was trending after the latest debacle on Tuesday night.

The Spaniard has yet to find a club that will pay his astronomical wages, and to call him back would be an unthinkable loss of face for United and their manager.

But they’ve lost enough already – and they’d have a world-class keeper back instead of a clown.

As for City, the win over Leipzig quelled any sense of a slip-up after the almost unprecedented two losses in a row. Besides Wolves, they were beaten by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.

But the domestic defeats will have them fired up against the Gunners who experienced an unexpected loss of their own at Lens.

Even worse, star man Bukayo Saka hobbled off with an apparent muscle injury in France.

Manager Mikel Arteta, who admits to playing the winger even when not fully fit, said: “It doesn’t look good.”

Needing all his big guns firing against the Treble winners, the Arsenal boss could be tempted to take a risk.

And it will not be the only selection under the spotlight: just which of David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale will he play in goal?

Or possibly both?

Arteta raised eyebrows by saying he’d thought of pulling off a keeper during a game and now has two quality international glove men.

Some might say he will need both against City who are likely to give whoever gets the nod plenty of practice.

But Arsenal will be determined to break the hex City have over them and convince us that the EPL has another genuine title race.

Liverpool, who may have been top until the VAR debacle last weekend, could also be in the mix as well as Spurs.

For the majority of fans, VAR should be abandoned anyway in its present form, and it would be an appropriate burial if it causes that game to be replayed.

We know that only in extreme circumstances can such a thing happen, but just imagine if after an enthralling title race, Spurs and/or Liverpool are involved and the margin is a couple of points.

The argument against it is that it would open the floodgates with demands for replays after every wrong decision.

Either way, the EPL cannot win. Something it should have thought about when it introduced this blight on the game in the first place.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.